Site Visit Report: Pul-e-Khumri Sports Stadium Improvement

The project includes one football playground, one volleyball playground, and one basketball playground. Funding for the project comes from USAID/RC-North and partially from Pul-e-Khumri Municipality. According to the municipality's Master Plan, the area was originally allocated for a youth playground but was used as an informal trash and human waste disposal site, posing health risks to citizens. A joint meeting between the Pul-e-Khumri Mayor, the Service Delivery Advisory Group (SDAG), and the Public Administration Advisory Group (PAAG) took place on September 27, 2012, with 23 participants prioritizing the construction of a stadium for the youth within the municipality. A preliminary joint feasibility study confirmed that the land for the stadium belongs to the municipality, and the municipality anticipates establishing a public-private partnership to operate and maintain the stadium after project closeout. The construction of the stadium aims to improve the quality of health and environment for youths, decrease environmental pollution and contamination, increase municipal income and revenue generation, provide youth with an area for sports and entertainment, and improve the municipality's technical capacity in project implementation and providing sustainable service delivery. The direct beneficiaries will be all Pul-e-Khumri residents, an estimated population of 98,900 people, while the indirect beneficiaries will include other people who come from districts and other provinces of the country. Construction of all boundary walls, entrance gate, pergolas, spectators areas, brick masonry drainages, football pitch, volleyball court, and basketball court are funded by USAID. Contributions from Pul-e-Khumri Municipality include site preparation and supply and installation of landscaping in required areas as part of the Pul-e-Khumri Sports Stadium Improvement. Two engineers from Tetra Tech's Afghanistan Engineering Support Program reviewed the project documentation and traveled to Baghlan province on November 07, 2013, to evaluate the visible completed works. The provided project documentation included drawings and a project proposal. The engineers were accompanied by a DAI site engineer and construction manager during the site evaluation. Regarding the USAID-funded portion of works, the following was observed: construction of brick masonry drainage, total length of 424 meters, is completed, with plastering and top concrete cap as per plan. No cracks on surfaces of the drainage walls were detected. Construction of the boundary wall, total length of 278.8 meters, is incomplete, with the wall made of stone and brick as per the project proposal. The plaster on the brick masonry is in good shape, and there were no cracks on it. The painting of the boundary wall has not been started. The contractor is required to paint the boundary wall, install handrails, and construct the PCC for the stairway, point the stairs, construct the volleyball court area, construct the basketball court area, and construct the football pitch. The Pul-e-Khumri Municipality's portion of the construction is in progress, with ongoing work consisting of leveling the site and completing the site landscaping. Overall, the construction was found to be satisfactory and in compliance with the plans and project proposal provided by RAMP UP North.